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Handling the Helm

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Photos by John Gilhooey

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]D[/dropcap]eep down, actor, comedian, director and film producer Jason Mewes was shaped by his humble background growing up in a working-class neighborhood in Highlands, New Jersey, before being thrust into the glamour of Hollywood in the mid-’90s. His best friend Kevin Smith cast him as Jay, an extension of Mewes’ true personality, for Smith’s debut film Clerks—a film that would become the definition of a cult classic.

Clearly, Clerks was only the beginning. The View Askewniverse, encompassing characters such as Jay and Silent Bob began to take form. A series of smash hit comedies followed, including Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back and Clerks II. By then, Mewes was sought after by other film executives—landing roles in films such as Scream III and Bottoms Up. In 2002, Mewes joined High Times to star in High Times’ Potluck. He also starred in numerous recurring roles on television.

It is difficult to overstate the overall influence that Mewes has played on modern comedy. After all, many of us were originally introduced to young actors such as Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, Ethan Suplee via the View Askewniverse. Seth Rogen, Will Ferrell, Alanis Morrisette and Rosario Dawson co-starred with him as well. Mewes’ directorial debut, Madness in the Method, was released last August and most recent film Jay & Silent Bob Reboot was released last October. Mewes took the time to discuss directing, his recent films and past experiences with cannabis before embarking on a sober lifestyle six years ago.

Jay & Silent Bob Reboot is about how the duo wants to stop Hollywood from filming a reboot of their movie. Do you think there are too many reboots today?

Not really. It’s fun for me to see what people do and where they go with it. It’s really just Jay and Bob making fun of remakes, but not making fun of [specific movies] at the same time. For me, it’s interesting to see that they want to try to reboot something and bring it back. I definitely think they shouldn’t touch certain movies, but at the same time, it’s always important to say, “Oh, I wonder if it’s going to turn out good? Is it going to be bad? Is it going to be decent?” So no, I don’t personally think so.

 

But over 10 actors/voice actors have played Batman!

I see, but I feel like if they would stick with the same man, and I could be wrong, it wouldn’t [be as great]. I think that they redid Batman because they wanted to tell a new story, or the person just didn’t want to be Batman anymore. I feel like if someone in Spider-Man starred in a movie, if he loves being Spider-Man, and they’re going to do 10 [films], then maybe he’ll do 10. I know as far as the studio is concerned, it might be the studio’s decision. But I feel like a lot of times the actor just decides, “Oh, I don’t wanna do that anymore.” And they want to make a new move. So, to me, the old Batmans are awesome and then the new Batmans were cool to see. Everyone has their own favorite. I didn’t think anyone could do a better Joker than Jack Nicholson, and then you had Heath Ledger, who was awesome. I wouldn’t say he was better than Jack Nicholson, but he definitely did his own Joker. And now we get to say, “This Joker is amazing, or this Joker is amazing,” but they were different. If they decided not to do a new Batman, we would’ve never got to see the Batman with Ledger, and we would’ve missed that brilliant performance.

 

Did Jay & Silent Bob begin as a skit?

No. Kevin said, “Hey, I’m writing a movie.” He tells the story best, but he saw the movie Slacker and said, “This counts as a movie?! I want to try to make a movie. I know that I could do something like this.” So, you know, that’s when he came up with Clerks. He came up with Jay, because he always thought I was funny, and he wanted to find out if other people also found my sense of humor funny. Not just him, but people in our neighborhood in New Jersey. “Will people in Portland find us funny? Will people in Los Angeles find us funny?” So, you know, that’s how he came up with the character Jay. That was based on exactly how I was at the time, at the age of 13 up to 17, when we filmed the movie.

 “People have gotten in trouble just for carrying a doobie on them. That, I definitely think is crazy.”

 

So, is Clerks 3 a for sure thing?

It seems that way. I know Kevin is definitely writing the script. I think it’s a really good idea for a script. I know he spoke to Jeff [Anderson] and Jeff’s in. And why it didn’t happen last time—there was a script there, and you know, we had a place to shoot it, and the money was there. But with Jeff, I don’t know what happened at the time, but he was busy. Something happened, and we had to move on. So, then we were going to do a Mallrats [sequel], and Mallrats didn’t happen, because Universal owned the rights to Mallrats and didn’t want to make the movie.

 

Tell us about your three new strains.

Kevin met with Mike [Brunson], who’s a big part of that, and he loved his stuff. He was telling me that he’s been wanting to do a Jay and Bob line. And Mike was like, “I can totally make that happen.” So, he sat down and made three brand-new strains of the sativa, hybrid and indica, and we got to put our names on them, with Snoochie Boochies, Snoogans and Berzerker. It just came about with Kevin having a conversation and wanting to do it for a long time. But also trying these other strains and falling in love with them.

 

What do you think about America’s cannabis laws? Are they too harsh?

I’ve always thought it’s been crazy. People have gotten in trouble just for carrying a doobie on them. That, I definitely think is crazy. I get it when someone’s doing backroom deals with pounds and pounds and the danger of doing something sketchy, but yes, I definitely think it’s too harsh. I remember when we got arrested once when I was in Highlands, New Jersey. I believe I was about 17 or 18 years old. We were coming back from the beach and my buddy had smoked, and when he threw the roach out the window, it blew back in the window, and it was on the floor when we got pulled over. They brought us all down to the police station for just a roach—and I mean, there wasn’t like any weed left in it, in the paper. It was pretty much just an empty soggy piece of paper with the resin on it. My buddy looked at the cop and said, “Hey, it’s my car.” We had no idea it was on the floor and we’d get in trouble. He ended up getting on probation and community service or something crazy like that. That, to me, is ridiculous. So, you know, it’s pretty awesome that you can go to certain states and just walk in a store with your ID.

 

You recently directed Madness in the Method. What is the film all about?

[Directing] is something that I’ve wanted to do for a while, because I got to mess around with Kevin a few times, and he let me direct some excerpts. As time went on, as I do movie after movie, I started thinking like a director, like, “Hey, why would I come through this door? Wouldn’t I rather come this other way?” That’s what happened. It was because I wanted to challenge myself and do something different. That’s what [Madness in the Method] is all about—an alternative version of Jay Mewes, and how people always ask him to play those “Snoochie Boochies guys.”

 “[Kevin Smith] saw the movie Slacker and said, ‘This counts as a movie?! I want to try to make a movie. I know that I could do something like this.’ So, you know, that’s when he came up with Clerks.”

Do you plan on directing more movies?

I would love to. It’s just a matter of if someone wants to give me another opportunity. I wish I could write and do what Kevin did with Clerks. I sort of did that with this movie, but I had my friend write. I think that once things have calmed down with Jay & Silent Bob Reboot, and we’re done touring, I can really sit down and try to figure out a plan. Or I’m hoping that someone sees the movie and already has money and a script, and just wants me to direct their movie.

 

You’ve been doing the “Jay & Silent Bob Get Old” podcast for nearly 10 years now. Why do you think it’s lasted so long?

I think because we just kept touring with it. It started off at the Black Box Theater. Kevin had opened up called SModcastle. That’s where the idea sort of stemmed from. Kevin was doing a couple of live shows. It looked like so much fun, and I said I really wanted to do a podcast. And he said, “What are we going to talk about?” I said “I don’t know.” Then he said, “You were four years sober, and relapsed, you were doing so good, so why do you think you relapsed?” I explained that I wasn’t accountable to anybody. I stopped going to meetings. I didn’t have any support system. So he said, “Let’s do the podcast. We’ll talk about your stuff. You’ll never forget about it, because we’ll be talking about it so much. And you want to go back there and doing that again—you know, living in an apartment with no heater. And you’ll be accountable to the listeners.” So it started off with 40 people, and others started to download it. We downloaded it on SModcastle. It sold out like in a week. We had no idea that that many people would want to watch. Then we moved up to the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club, which held 160 people. And that was selling out every week. We decided if we’re doing it in New York, we might as well go to Florida. We just started setting up the tour, and I think a combination of keeping the stories fresh each time and being able to tour to different cities. Then we went to Australia and London and Scotland. That’s all part of why [it lasted].

 

What upcoming projects do you have to announce?

Reboot Roadshow will be on in a city near you. Besides that, there are no movies I’m locked into now. I’ve been streaming on Twitch. I build Legos. I do IRL, like backpacking and doing different things. And I also play video games. JayMewes is my Twitch channel. Kevin and I are actually doing something this week together, so I’m trying to do collabs with people, and there are a couple of them set up. Keep an eye out for them. Besides the Reboot, the movie, and doing press, I’ve been mainly streaming in my free time.

 

www.jmewes.com

 

Be sure to check out our exclusive conversation with former CULTURE cover celebrity Kevin Smith about the new line of cannabis strains and the vaping crisis.

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